A qualitative exploration of student perspectives of chatbot use during emergency remote teaching
Abstract
In this study, a chatbot was developed using Dialogflow Messenger to support learning during face-to-face class suspension due to COVID-19. The pandemic has changed how students and teachers engage with course content and use technologies. By working with the chatbot, language for specific purposes students received guidance and support to complete homework and assignments during the face-to-face class suspension. Twenty-two (22) students participated in this interpretive qualitative study, and data were collected using focus group interviews and analysed thematically. The findings indicate that students found the pedagogical chatbot supportive by providing human-like interactions, which enhanced their sense of engagement. Participants also indicated that their interactions with the chatbot eased their sense of isolation, which had a positive impact on their learning. The findings provide insight and enrich existing knowledge for integrating chatbots into teaching and they discuss the advantages of learning future chatbot design for language acquisition.
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Providing feedback and stimulating the interaction cycle that supports social presence are important factors in active engagement with the chatbot learning environment.
“Providing feedback and stimulating the interaction cycle that supports social presence are important factors in active engagement with the chatbot learning environment (Lee et al., 2020; Huang et al., 2021; Kohnke, 2022; Mendoza et al., 2022).”
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Using chatbot in education – A systematic review and research agenda
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- Authors
- Kohnke, L.
- Affiliations
- Education University of Hong Kong (HK)
- Corresponding author
- Kohnke, Lucas
- ORCID
- Kohnke, Lucas
- Venue
- International Journal of Mobile Learning and Organisation
- Publisher
- Inderscience Publishers
- Published
- 2022
- Volume
- 16
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 475
- ISSN
- 1746-725X (ISSN-L)
- 1746-7268
- OpenAlex
- W4312230384
- Cited by
- 36
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 1
- FWCI
- 2.71
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- International Journal of Mobile Learning and Organisation (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Artificial Intelligence › Intelligent Tutoring Systems and Adaptive Learning
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › Artificial Intelligence in Education
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Artificial Intelligence › AI in Service Interactions
- Keywords
- chatbots, emergency remote teaching, COVID-19 pandemic, student perceptions, language for specific purposes, homework help, student engagement, social isolation, chatbot design, human-like interaction
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